The Snowy Owl 
or frightful, snapping their mandibles, and groaning now and then in a 
most dismal fashion. If the young are well grown, it is not at all safe to 
venture near, for an irate Horned Owl is incredibly swift in attack, and a 
raking shot from those powerful talons will leave at best a very sore head. 
One ardent investigator, 1 presuming too much upon an acquaintance of 
two years’ standing, attempted to remove the owlets from a nest for 
photographic purposes. The blood flowing from three scalp wounds was 
soon staunched and he recovered his cap from a tree top a hundred yards 
away, “a punctured souvenir of our last intimate contact with the local 
Horned Owls.” 
No. 219 
Snowy Owl 
A. O. U. No. 376. Nyctea nyctea (Linnaeus). 
Description. —Adult male: Without plumicorns; entire plumage pure white, 
sometimes almost unmarked, but usually more or less spotted, or indistinctly barred 
above with pale brownish or fuscous,—perhaps heaviest on middle of back and wing- 
coverts; wing-quills and tail-feathers irregularly and sparingly spotted with dusky; 
below still fainter indications of dusky barring; legs and feet immaculate, heavily 
feathered. Bill and claws black; iris yellow. Adult female: Similar to male, but much 
more heavily barred with brownish black—only face, forebreast and feet unmarked; 
top of head and hind-neck spotted with dusky. Young: Uniform brownish dusky or 
sooty gray. Length of adult male (measured from tip of bill over head to end of tail): 
635-685.8 (25.00-27.00); wing 410 (16.14); tail 2 3° (9-o6); bill from cere 25.7 (1.02). 
Adult female, length 685.8-762 (27.00-30.00); wing 445 (17.52); tail 250 (9.85); bill 
from cere 27.5 (1.08). 
Recognition Marks. —Brant to eagle size; pure or nearly pure white plumage. 
Nesting. —Does not breed in California. Nest: A hollow in the ground, scantily 
lined with moss or grass and feathers. Eggs: 3 to 10, usually 5 to 7; oval, white. Av. 
size 57 x 45 (2.44 x 1.77); index 80. 
General Range. —Northern portion of Northern Hemisphere. In North 
America breeds chiefly on the barren grounds from the Yukon Delta, central Mackenzie, 
and northern Ungava, north to high latitudes. Winters regularly south from the Arctic 
Circle to southern Canadian provinces, and sporadically into the northern central 
states, and straggles even to California, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina; and 
casually to Bermuda (3 records). 
Occurrence in California. —Rare and sporadic visitor in winter. Two invasions 
recorded in recent years: that of 1896 reaching to Sonoma and Alameda counties, or 
possibly Santa Cruz (fide Thompson); that of 1916 reaching Del Norte (Nov. 1, spec, 
in M. C. 0 . coll.) and Humboldt counties. 
Authorities.—Cohen, Osprey, vol. i., 1897, p. 71 (Alameda, Sonoma, and 
Humboldt counties, Dec., 1896); Thompson, Condor, vol. iii., 1901, p. 141 (Santa Cruz); 
Smith, Condor, vol. xix., 1917, p. 24 (Humboldt Co., Nov., 1916 )\ Bryant, Calif. Fish 
and Game, vol. iii., 1917, p. 37 (n. Calif.; winter 1916-17). 
1 Chas. R. Keyes. See Condor, Vol. XIII., Jan., 1911, p. 17. 
11 IQ 
